Sunday, 11 May 2014

Buddhism was
introduced to Sri Lanka
in the 3rd century BCE. Thereafter
Sri Lanka
became an exclusive Buddhist country.
Later Sri
Lanka was subject to attacks first by the South Indian
Tamil marauders, who may have plundered and ransacked BuddhistTemples
and monasteries. Later in 205 BCE a
Chola Prince Elara set up a Kingdom in Anuradhapura.
During which period Hindu Kovils were built in once exclusive Buddhist
land. King Dutugamunu defeated King
Elara in battle and re-established the SinhalaKingdom
in Rajarata in 261BCE.

It marked a
great revival of Buddhism bringing it back to the glory it was before the foreign invaders. The Buddhists monks are said to have accompanied the armies
of King Dutugemunu, while at least one is said to have disrobed to take part in
the battle against Elara. The monks were
of course there to provide protection to the King and the army chanting prayers
and giving them moral strength to fight the enemy and bring back the lost prestige of Buddhism under the Hindu ruler

After that Buddhism
flourished in Sri Lanka
until the arrival of the Portuguese in 1505. Royal seat of power was then in
Sitawaka, with a separate Kingdom in Kandy, and
the power struggle within the Royal family helped the Portuguese to entrench them-selves
in Sri Lanka. After the death of Mayadunne his son Rajasinghe
I became the King of Sitawake and fought against the Portuguese and defeated
them in many battles. Though Rajasingha was acclaimed as a brave King for his victories over the Portuguese
armies, he later became an enemy of Buddhism.

His reign was
a sad period in the history of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. The King Rajasinghe was converted to Hinduism
and appointed a Hindu as his Chief adviser.
Many Buddhist Monasteries were raised to ground and land handed over to
Hindu Kovils. The Buddhist monks were
put to death, and the Buddhist Sacred books were kept hidden in the hill
country. Buddhism was entrusted to lay
people dressed in white called “ganninanse”.
They played the role of the Buddhist monks.

It was King
Kithsiri Rajasinghe who revived Buddhism from scratch. Advised
by the great Buddhist monk
Venerable Welvitiye Saranamkara maha thero , the king invited 18 monks from Siam-now Thailand
to re-introducing higher ordination of Buddhist Monks in the Thailand tradition.
This was the beginning of the Siam Nikaya.

The
Portuguese came to Sri Lanka
with two objectives, one was to guarantee its spice trade and the other the
conversion of heathens to Catholicism.
The Portuguese and then the Dutch that followed them, and the British
that came last, all had the intension of luring the natives away from their precious heritage
of Buddhism, introducing them to their faith of an invisible god, explaining
his invisibility in stories of miracles he had performed such
as making the blind see, the paralyzed walk or even the dead rise from the tomb.
They assured them the love of the god that
will come to them in “ believing without seeing or asking questions.”

The God of
the Bible had no love for others, but only for his chosen people the
Israelites. Therefore the West
(initiated by the Greek writers)
burrowed the God of Israel providing him with a son. The most convincing
story to help the conquerors to convert the non-believers was the narration
of the myth of a immaculate conception
that gave the God a son to take on himself
the sins of the people. Of course
they also tempted the natives to accept their religion with “education in
Missionary schools” and providing them jobs in their colonial administrations,
as they are doing now for the conversion of
poor villagers in some parts of Sri Lanka, offering them money and
gifts.

The
Portuguese had weakened the Sitawaka Kings, making it easy for them to convert
the members of Royal families to Catholicism. Don Joao was a Sinhala Prince, who later fled
to Portugal
and became a Priest.

The
Portuguese wanted King Karalliadde Bandara’s daughter Princess Kusumadevi baptised as Dona Catarina to be placed on the throne of Kandy. But Konappu Bandara defeated the
Portuguese, married Dona Catarina and was crowned as King Vimaladharmasooriya I
of Kandy.

This period
saw the utter brutality of the Portuguese who set fire to the city and killed
cows in Buddhist temples. Many Catholic
Churches were built and there was none to protect Buddhism and the Buddhists.

The
Buddhist monks who made an effort to make the people aware of the threat to
Buddhism and rouse them to rebel against the Portuguese were hunted down and
thirty of the them were hanged, thus discouraging any future uprising of the
people against the Portuguese. King of
the Kingdom of Kandy Vimaladharmasuriya despite the
bitter lessons learnt during the Portuguese occupation seemed to have had no alternative other than invite
the Dutch in 1638 to help him defeat the Portuguese.

But the
Dutch making use of the kindly relations with the King, established Missionary
Schools and spread Christianity. It was
during this period that Christianity built a strong hold of the country.

The rule of
Sri Lanka
by the British beginning from 1815 was a disaster for Buddhism, equal to what
it was under the Portuguese. It was
again the Buddhists monks who took the fore front to rebel against the British rule.
Venerable Wariyapola Srisumangala Anunayaka Thero of the Asgiriya Chapter pulled down the English flag
and re-hoisted the lion flag of Sinhala in defiance of the British.

He later
hid the Sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha
lest it would fall into the hands of the British. The British caught him, and convicted him for
high treason. The rebellions against the
British by the Sinhala leaders were carried out with the blessings of the
Buddhist monks. The Tamils and the
Muslims were insignificant in numbers, but
the British feared opposition by
the Majority Sinhala Buddhists, and therefore appointed Tamils and Muslims
to official positions in their colonial
administration.

In Wellassa
the British appointed a Muslim as a Muhandiram, and treated the
Sinhala using the motto “ famine, sword and fire”, which caused the rebellion
in 1817. It was quelled by the British shooting the leaders on the
spot and burning villages, and killing males over 18 years to discourage future
Sinhala uprisings. A Buddhist monk
Venerable Kudahapola Therunnanse was shot dead at Bogambara in his robes to
insult Buddhism, and end further rebellions.

At each of
these periods when Buddhism or the
country was under threat, there were those great Buddhist leaders who came forward advised by the Buddhist monks
to protect Buddhism and bring it back to the fore front of the lives of the Sinhala
people.

Buddhism is
a far greater “religion” than the monotheistic religions. It had been
then the bête noir of the conquerors, as it is today for those monotheistic faiths such as Islam , and Christianity in Sri Lanka. Buddhism did not teach to pray to an
invisible god to get favours done for them. Buddhism is a pragmatic “religion” which emphasised that it is within oneself that one should find solutions to problems, and not through
prayers to a creator God.

Violation
of Human Rights with which the West is trying to charge Sri Lanka is an artificial arm of
the West
to destabilise and subjugate developing Nations. The Buddhists of Sri Lanka respect not only
human life, but also that of all forms
of living beings, hence the Sinhala people of Sri Lanka is the last to
violate human rights, in real life or in war.

There is
unfortunately an increase of violence and criminality in Sri Lanka today
which cannot in any way be related to the Buddhist teachings they follow, but it
is largely due to the Western influence which has distorted their life style
with excessive interest in wealth, drug
dealings, sex, and intoxication.

The British
got down different Christian Missionaries
to Sri Lanka. They built Schools for Boys, Convents for Girls, and commenced Christianization of Sri Lanka. They sent Christian Priests out into villages
to distribute books and pamphlets that
criticised and ridiculed Buddhism, and praised Christianity.

In that
situation when the Buddha Sasana was in peril a young novice Buddhist Priest Venerable
Mohottiwatte Gunananda Thero challenged
the Christian Missionaries for an open debate, which resulted in three debates in 1873, the last of which was held in Panadura.

“The Panadura
controversy, which lasted for a week, was the most important of them all. It
was the culmination of his efforts and it led to a Buddhist reawakening. The
controversy was to take place in the presence of leading Sinhalese Christians
and Buddhists. Rules were laid down so that the meeting could be held in a fair
manner. The leading English newspaper of the time,The Ceylon Times, sent a
special representative to report the proceedings. A complete report of all the
speeches corrected by the speakers themselves was published in English day by
day.

The controversy ended
with victory for the Buddhists. The Buddhist orator not only replied
effectively to the fallacies of the Christian speakers, but also enlightened
them on the principles and tenets of the Buddhist doctrine. When the Christians
retired from the debate defeated, the Buddhists were overjoyed. Festivities
were held in every temple to mark their triumph and the effigy of Gunaananda
Thera was carried in procession in every village.” (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/perera/wheel100.html)

It is
therefore very clearly seen that right along in the history of Sri Lanka when
ever there was a threat to the Buddha Sasana, it was the Buddhist Monk who took
the leading role as the protector of the
Buddha Sasana and the Buddhist people.
Therefore, one should not be surprised when the Buddhist monks raise
their voice while the Buddhist laymen lie in lethargy to speak out against those who are a threat to the
existence of Buddhism in Sri Lanka.

The first
time the Muslims came against the Sinhala Buddhists was in 1915, when they opposed a Buddhist procession
going past their Mosque which they claimed disturbed their prayer sessions. The Muslims
were in fact provoking even at that time the Sinhala Buddhist sentiments relying on the
special treatment they received from the British Colonial rulers, by
haphazard construction of Mosques
in Kandy
and Gampola areas.

Sir Robert
Charmers was the Governor at the time and
he took the opportunity to send the British forces to come hard on the
Sinhala Buddhists, which came under criticism to the extent that the British government was forced to recall
the Governor and replace him with Sir John Anderson, who settled the issue ordering that the Buddhist Procession “ Esala
Perahera” should not be interfered with restrictions.

Thereafter,
the Sinhala- Muslims relations existed peacefully more due to the patience of
the Sinhala Buddhists. The Muslims
continued building their mosques every where without restrictions, or even
without permission from neighbours or the government, and started using loudspeakers
for Muslim call to prayers-the Adhan by
the Muezzin five times a day beginning from early in the morning without any
concern for the followers of other religions.

Nonetheless,
the good relations between the Communities continued to a certain
extent until after the end of Terrorism.
The old Muslim leaders have given place to a new set of Muslims who influenced by the Saudi Arabian Muslim
extremism, have become vociferously active going beyond all respectful norms
establishing an Islamic influence in the country and society introducing halal,
Sharia Law, breaking the peace and goodwill
that existed between the
Communities.

Added to
this is the Muslim Minsters of the Government such as Rishad Badiudeen, and
Rauf Hakeem who are aggravating the rift between the Sinhala and Muslim people.
Rishad Bathiudeen has taken the law into
his own hands to establish unauthorised
Muslim settlements claiming the lands to be their ancestral homes. If this is not stopped now Sri Lanka would
face another ,
political and a social upheaval as it had been before with the Tamil terrorism.

After the
end of the thirty year of terrorism in which Sri Lanka saw many Buddhist monks
killed, temples and ancient Buddhist
ruins destroyed, and the most Sacred Buddhist Temple of the Tooth bombed, it
appears that the path has been cleared for the Muslims in Sri Lanka to
establish themselves as a political force and
attack Buddhism, its places of worship, land grab under the theme of
“ancestral homes”, reminiscent of the Tamil terrorists’ call for a Home Land.

In this
new threat to Buddhism and the Buddhist People it is no Surprise that the Buddhist Clergy has this
time formed the Bodu Bala Sena, as
political leadership is unfortunately caught in an International call for
reconciliation of Communities, which has restricted the Government to be lenient towards the Muslims in their most
provocative activities, not second to another form of terrorism against Sri Lanka and its people.

Rishad
Bathiudeen is taking the mean advantage of his position as a Minister and the
Government’s embarrassment in its
promise to the International Community for reconciliation of Communities,
to get maximum of advantages to the Muslim Community, at the expense of Buddhism and the Buddhist people. It is right that the Bodu Bala Sena has
challenged him, though the way it was done may not be considered conventional.

The Trust claimed that Minister Rishad Bathiudeen had disregarded conservation laws to facilitate settlements there and over 3000 hectares of protected land within numerous forest reserves had been cleared to make way for Muslim settlements in the North and the East provinces breaching the country's laws under the Forest Conservation Act.

The Bodu
Bala Sena is an essential evolution for the protection of Buddhism which is
again under threat by a new Islamic terrorism. But to face this threat the Buddhists and the
Buddhist monks should not be divided.
This should be made an occasion for
yet another Buddhist revival.

But the Bodu
Bala Sena commencing from Venerable
Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara thero should not let themselves be carried away from the vastness of the
Challenge they have before them. They
should keep their comportment within their professed vocation as Buddhist Monks, as
they are called upon today to meet another threat to Buddha Sasana, as it had been through out its history,
beginning from the South Indian incursions.

For the Buddhists people the Buddhist Monks are one of the Sacred Gems worthy of worship. They
should always keep in mind this
respectful place they have amoung
the followers of Buddhist teachings. Therefore, they should never act in a way that degrade the Buddhist
Monkhood. Their behaviour should not be
like that of the laypersons. They should
be compassionate, speak gently, without using harsh language. If they behave like the ordinary laymen, there
is the fear that they will be treated
like them, and not taken seriously.

We have
seen Venerable Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero and others behaving like thugs ,
angry and aggressive attacking another monk.
This is not in keeping with the behaviour expected of them. The police
respected the yellow robe they
were wearing, otherwise they would have been arrested handcuffed and taken away
by the police. The monks have no right
to take the law into their own hands.
The Buddha never spoke harshly to ordinary lay people, though he did not
hesitate to reprimand his disciples
using strong words.

Lot
of things could be done without resorting to aggressivity . People could be made to listen if they
are spoken to appropriately.

In a way
the Buddhist Monks have been compelled to be aggressive in order to stop the
provocative behaviour of the Muslim politicians. Therefore the Muslims should change their
present behaviour, which is mostly influenced by the fundamentalist and Muslim
terrorism of the Middle East.

The Muslims
have not become a nuisance only in Sri Lanka, but also in Muslim
countries. An Egyptian court recently sentenced to death 683
Muslim Brotherhood supporters. Sri Lanka should
therefore be vigilant, and Bodu Bala Sena should nort be blamed for the action they are taking,
though the way they are doing it is not conventional. It is Bodu Bala Sena that
highlighted the Wilpattu Muslim settlements.

Muslims settled in Wilpattu Reservations

The
Government seems unable to stop Minister Rishad Bathiudeen who has become a law unto himself. Minister Bathiudeen is
abusing his power as a Minister to
settle Muslims in large numbers clearing forests, and building roads into
forest reservations, while the displaced Sinhala Buddhists are still waiting to be resettled. What is wrong if Bodu Bala Sena steps in to
point out irregularities of which the
government seems to be unaware ?

Unauthorised Clearing of Forest Reservations for Muslim Settlements

Bodu Bala
Sena is not an organisation that should be condemned, it is an important
solution to face the latest threat to Buddhism coming from a
determined Islamic revolution that is threatening the civilised world
today.

But to be
effective and accepted by the Buddhist people, Bodu Bala Sena should adopt a different method to solve the problems, keeping their behaviour
pattern in terms of the teachings of the
Buddha. The whole world is watching the
Bodu Bala Sena, therefore they should adopt a more acceptable manner of speech,
and action in dealing with their
adversaries who are becoming a threat to Buddha Sasana and the Buddhist society
in Sri Lanka.

It would
be more effective if Bodu Bala Sena, Sinhala
Ravaya and Rawana Balaya could come
under one flag, and plan intervention where their presence becomes necessary to
defend Buddhism and the Buddhist people,
and to give early warning to those concerned of any form of “terrorism” be it
from the Tamils or from the Muslims.